I put up a couple posts a few months ago about muay thai and such saying I wanted to get into it. I did, and I am really enjoying it. I have a few or well... quite a few flaws.

- Balance: I used to lose my balance "ALOT" whether punching or kicking. I kind of had the same problem as the guy in this post http://www.fightingarts.com/ubbthreads/s...;gonew=1#UNREAD So far I figure it's my stance. I'm still trying to find a comfortable one and think I've just found it recently and tested in my last class. I'm gonna tinker with it since it helped alot but I'd still love some advice.

- Upper Body: My jabs, crosses, hooks, upper cuts, and elbows are lacking. Sometimes it's cause my partner is holding the pads wrong but it's my fault in most cases for not adapting. Another problem is that there really is nobody my size. I'm 6'1 so the sensei guy always says "hold the pads head level to your opponent" and well, when I'm paired up with a little 5'3 fella it's kinda hard. Also, I lose my balance as stated before throwing punches. I'll go jab cross, hook and stumble back. On my hooks, I used to hurt my wrists because I punched it wrong, I recently corrected that but now I have problems hitting the pads. Maybe I'm leaning too far back in my stance, but when I hit it I really can't seem to reach dead on in the center, either I hit the bottom part or just knick the outer sides. In my new attempt at a stance I'm also having a little bit of problems rotating for the hooks. As for the upper cuts, I'm just bad at those, I don't really have the hang of them yet, ya know practice is whats needed. Elbows, my right is ok, but in the new stance I can't seem to reach. In my old stance which I chronically lost my balance, I could tell I was hitting the "sweet" spot with my right elbow, but now I feel like I'm hitting pathatically. My left elbow, well... I'm a right, it just feels weird. The sensei guy said it would and it does, and I can't seem to generate much power in it no matter what. So I basically throw weak left elbows and then follow with a power right, it doesn't really work well now since my new stance isn't so good for the slide in or the scoot so I can reach.

- Apologetic: Yeah, I'm 6'1 give or take, my class consists of middle aged women and a few kids younger than me. There are about 2 guys that are in their upper 20's (I'm 17) and they usually team together. Those guys are my height, but more experienced and weigh more. I teamed with one of them once, had a great work out but those 2 usually work out together so thats not really always possible. So I usually end up with a little kid or a woman that is just there to get in shape. I have no problem with that but I seriously have to go gentle on them. The sensei yelled at me for doing it once so I did a push kick to this one lady and plowed her down. I felt sorry for her and the sensei guy had to hold the pad for me for the rest of the time. He's like 5,4 but since he's seriously ripped and more experienced he can support me.

- Pad Holding: The sensei calls out #'s that correspond to punch combos (1 = jab (left), 2 = cross (right), 3 = left hook, 4 = cross (right), 5 = right upper cut). This is just repetition but I some times screw up in terms of holding them. Thats just the repetition problem. The real problem is holding for a littler person. I have to bend down and practically kneel for these people. Do you have any advice to help them because I feel really bad being a hinderance to these people and not giving them a good work out in return.

- Shield Holding: This is like for the thai kicks, round houses, and push kicks. Stuff like that. We got these old black pads and god they don't help a bit. The only time they actually help is when I got a little fella or little lady because I simply out power and out weigh them so their kicks don't do anything to me. When I pair up with the experienced guys it's like I don't even have the pads. Each kick gives me like insanely sharp pains into my sides, ribs, lungs, all that. I experiement with different ways to hold it and I can't find a good way yet. Sensei says to hold it close to your body, absorb the blow... Hellll no I tried that this guy almost made me throw up. Let me just make this clear, the only real problem is the thai kicks, round houses, and the knees. The pushes I have no problem shielding. But honeslty I could use some advice cause after the shield exercises I'm like dead, and if I block first, I can't throw propper kicks because of how bad it hurt. Last time (thursday oct, 5) I paired up with a new guy that was in his 20's. He seemed to have the same stamina as me and because he was new he wasn't as good as the kicks and such as me so I helped him the best I could, but while I was delivering the kicks to him he even asked "is it supposed to hurt this much" I said "Probably not but it does anyway." This I could use some major help on because it hurts when we kick and I'd like to share any advice with the new fella since I like to help people out. After all, I was the new guy before him.

- Stamina: I get tired if I burn myself out. Tuesday, the class before october 5th's I burned my self out throwing push kicks. Any advice on building up stamina?

- Guard: I drop my guard consistantly. I suppose this is just a repetition thing, ya know get in the habit of keeping the guard up. Sometimes I catch it, some times if I have a good partner they remind me, but still I just gotta get in the habit. Also, when I throw push kicks I was told by the sensei my guard turns into some sort of "prayer" type of stance. I cracked up but saddly it's true I'm working on it.

- Knees: These are the knees with the shield pads. Usually we grab our partner by the shoudler/neck and pull him/her down while we knee. I duno if I kick it right or not since most partners are like... dwarfs to me. I don't have to knee much to reach these people if I bend them over. I guess thats just the height thing, but still I also burn out my stamina doing them. Tips?

- Double Punches: I duno, maybe I do them right or wrong. I just seem to always do them weak or something. Do I retract all the way and redo the punch, partially rotate back then punch, or what?

Thats really all we do in class, and since I'm new I got a ton of flaws still. I try to practice at home when I have free time, but ya know. I'm still new. I got a punching bag but it's unusable at the moment. I'm working on getting it usuable.

I have one last question but lemme just feed you some info for a sec. My sensei tried something new oct 5th. He said he was going to try something new on the class, turning it from a kick boxing class into a fitness class. This comming tuesday he wants feed back. I personally had "fun" at the class, but I went there to learn muay thai, fitness is just a benefit. Come tuesday, if he gets "positive" feed back and fully converts it to fitness, should I stay? That was really the only muay thai place around and I already signed up for class. I really didn't like what the last class was, it was like aerobics with punches.

Thanks alot for reading this guys I'd appreciate any feed back you have.